Hamas’ October 7 attack on Tel Aviv and Israel’s aggressive military response is dividing the Democratic Party, where progressives are more likely than moderates to criticize Israel for the toll on Palestinian civilians. 

Example: Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who has launched a quixotic primary challenge to President Biden, “faced screaming and profanity from voters” over his response to a question about the issue at his first of 119 planned town halls, at the Rex Theater in Manchester, New Hampshire where the only Black woman in the crowd asked whether he supports an Israeli ceasefire, according to The Washington Post.

“I’m going to answer each of your questions,” Phillips replied, “but I have to tell you, I took note that you didn’t mention – how do you feel about the Israeli babies? And moms and dads and grandmas and hostages in Gaza who were brutally murdered? …” 

He interrupted the woman, Atong Chan, before she could respond; “I am completely empathetic to them.” Others in the crowd accused Phillips of “gaslighting” Chan before three campaign staffers removed her from the theater.

At one point in the town hall, WaPo reports, Phillips mentioned his friendship with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), as “my Palestinian sister … I am her Jewish brother.”

But Omar has been the target of a primary campaign for the 2024 elections at least since she boycotted Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech to a joint session of Congress last summer. The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, a national PAC, “has put Omar in its sights because of her stance on Israel,” MINNPOST reported in September.

This week, Forbes reported that LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman’s political advisor, Dmitri Melhorn, has approached the Mainstream Democrats PAC, which supports centrist candidates, to challenge Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for “her inability to condemn October 7.”